Getting to know Borussia Dortmund’s new Dutchman Donyell Malen

Borussia Dortmund may have lost a key cog in their system after Jadon Sancho’s departure, but they have acquired the ideal replacement in Dutch international Donyell Malen.

Initially an Ajax academy prospect, Malen left de Godenzonen in 2015 for a snip of £500,000 before making a name for himself in the FA Youth Cup and PL2 for Arsenal.

In his debut campaign for the Gunners, Malen recorded 14 goals in 30 appearances but struggled to integrate himself into the first team. As a result, he was offloaded to PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2017.

The Dutchman was deployed as a winger for PSV’s reserve team, Jong PSV, and ended the 2017/18 season as top goal scorer with 13 goals in 22 matches.

After warming up in the Eerste Divisie, Malen took his first full season in the Eredivisie by storm. In 2018/19, he directly contributed to 14 goals (10G 4A) in 31 games, starting just six of those games.

The following season, Malen improved his tally and was just short of a goal involvement per game, scoring 11 and assisting twice in 14 starts for Boeren.

Last season was the forward’s best campaign. He scored 27 goals in all competitions during 2020/21 and enjoyed a career high of 19 goals in 32 games in the Dutch top-flight.

After 58 goal involvements in 81 matches in the Eredivisie, Malen is on his way to Germany for the next step in his career. According to journalist Fabrizio Romano, he has signed the first part of paperwork involved in a £26 million deal to Borussia Dortmund.

Similar to Sancho, Malen is a nuisance on either wing plus he will constantly free roam across the front line. Go-to-show movements, double and blindside runs enables him to get in behind and utilise his blistering sprint speed. His ability to time runs off the shoulder of his marker as well as curving his runs to stay onside make him a defender’s nightmare.

A recent example being in his first European Championship for Holland. The 22-year-old helped his country ease into the knockout stages after assisting the second goal against Austria. He beat the offside trap by timing his run to perfection before racing in on goal and setting up Denzel Dumfries for a tap in.

It doesn’t always have to be in behind. Malen is capable of mixing up his game by dropping in between the lines to combine with midfielders. He frequently comes short to receive the ball to feet. By doing this, he draws his defender out of position to get touch tight to him, allowing midfield players to run beyond the back line and take up positions higher up the pitch.

Off the ball he is electric. On the ball he is even more so. Malen’s other assist in EURO 2020 came against North Macedonia, where he showcased his expertise on the counter-attack. He collected the ball in his own half, exchanged two passes with Memphis Depay before cutting the ball back for the Barcelona striker to finish.

The Wieringen born winger’s expertise on the break, as well as sublime decision making in the area will guarantee goals for Dortmund next season. Malen’s end product combined with one of the world’s best finishers in Erling Braut Haaland’s will create one of the most exciting duos in European football.

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt